EDITOR'S
NOTE: Sanibel and Captiva knew Charley was out there in the Gulf of
Mexico on Aug. 13, 2004, but the infamous storm took a late turn and
hit the islands straight on. The Santiva Chronicle looks back to that
day 10 years ago in this story by one of Southwest Florida's leading
writers and historians, Timothy M. Jacobs.

In
the beginning of August 2004 island life was what it should be – a
nirvana. Local year round residents were enjoying the shorter lines
at Baileys General Store, less traffic along Periwinkle, and plenty
of parking near the Sanibel Lighthouse. The topic of conversation in
the barber shops and watering holes was the impending increase of the
Causeway toll jumping from $2 up to $6. They were perhaps unaware
that on Aug. 4, a tropical wave formed off the west coast of Africa
and in a short span of 10 days would disrupt their island life.

The
Path of Charley

The
wave continued to travel westerly, picking up speed and steadily
becoming more organized over the open Atlantic Ocean. As it
approached the Lesser Antilles on Aug. 9, it grew into a tropical
depression. One day later, stirring winds between 40 to 70 miles per
hour, the depression was now a tropical storm and was christened with
the name “Charley.” It did not take long for Charley to go from a
tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane.

The
local paper warned its readers: “SW FLA in path of storm forecast.”
It furthered stated “The hurricane center’s five-day forecast
track of Charley puts Southwest Florida within the cone where the
storm is expected to travel.” Residents were reminded to review
their hurricane plans.

Charley
was predicted to be a Category 1 by the time it would hit Florida,
but the combination of warm water and little wind in the Caribbean
Sea and the Gulf of Mexico only added fuel to the hurricane's fury.

With
the storm now on the fast path to Southwest Florida, the Fort Myers
News-Press dedicated four pages of its Aug. 12 issue to hurricane
preparedness. After all, it’s been 44 years since Donna made her
appearance. Charley had also been upgraded to a Category 2.

Evacuations
Begin

Gov.
Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency, while Captiva, along with
other areas were placed on evacuation notice. Within a moment of the
listbeing
announced, the evacuations started. Sanibel began the process at 7
a.m., prior to the governor’s announcement. It was estimated it
would take 21 hours to evacuate certain areas. Schools were now
canceled and the Florida Department of Transportation made the
decision to keep all bridges open and waived the tolls to help reduce
traffic. The island was under a recommended order to leave, and it
took about three days to clear the islands.

South
Seas Plantation general manager Chris van der Baars relocated nearly
1,000 guests and 500 employees as the threat of Charley grew. After
the storm passed, he made arrangements with authorities for 40
members of his staff to report to work, assess the damage, and begin
the clean up process.

On
Aug. 13, with Charley looming ominously close to the islands, the
News-Press told its readers, “As Hurricane Charley strengthens, SW
Floridians BATTEN DOWN.” The storm was now a Category 3 with top
sustained winds at 105 mph. Gov. Bush, realizing the intensity and
speed of the storm, altered his message to the islanders. “People
in Captiva and Sanibel who are required to leave, if they go north,
they’re going to be in trouble. The best thing is for them to stay
in their own communities.”

Sanibel
officials relocated to the Holiday Inn at Bell Tower and set up a
temporary city hall equipped with TVs and computers to monitor
Charley.

At
1:15 on the afternoon of Friday the 13th,
winds reached 145 miles per hour, and Charley was again upgraded,
this time to a Category 4, and was less than 70 miles from the
islands. Then the worst fears came true for all of those along the
Southwest coast of Florida. The storm took a sharp turn toward the
east and headed for the tip of Captiva.

“It
was pretty much a last minute jog at that point,” says Steve
Greenstein, who was the executive director of Sanibel and Captiva
Chamber of Commerce. “Everybody was already evacuated and was
waiting for the storm to go north.”

At
3:45, the hurricane made landfall on Captiva, and two hours later it
moved out into Charlotte County.

Northern
Captiva received the brunt of the wrath, and nearly all 300 homes on
the island suffered some damage. The 27 Captivians who decided to
ride out the storm were without power and communication. The last
reports were Charley was only a Category 1 and was heading in a north
direction for the Tampa
area. They were caught off guard when it
turned abruptly and was a Category 4 that rolled off the Gulf.
Greenstein talked with officials who had remained on the island
during the storm and “they said they would never stay behind again
for another hurricane; it was quite the experience.”

Now
they would spend days cut off from the mainland while those residents
who did flee and hunker down in Fort Myers and nearby were forced to
wait until officials deemed that the Causeway and islands were safe.
It was as if residents were either trapped on the island or trapped
on the mainland.

National
and local meteorologists still have not come to a conclusion that
explains why Charley intensified so rapidly and changed course. The
main lesson from Charley, as well as with all other hurricanes, is
simply to be prepared.

About the author

T.M. Jacobs is a member of the Board of Directors of the Southwest Florida Historical Society, member of the Corporate Board of the Gulf CoastWriters Assoc. and president owner of Jacobs Writing Consultants in Fort Myers. A student of the American Revolution, he is the author of several historical works, including the recently published Almost Home: The 1864 Diary of Sergeant Samuel E. Grosvenor. The book is available at amazon.com and has been featured in both the Santiva Chronicle and on CSPAN2's Book TV.